Senecio adn Tide II

[Mirach]

"You can do it now, and let's just keep talking. Because I'm getting quite invested in these characters... How do you think Sein Miru became a slave?"

[VisAnastasis]

" Oh, yes, I'm getting more attached to them more time passes, too! It's fun to build them and the world around them, and it's exciting to see what will happen to them as time goes, " Tide tied in, indeed, with colour to his voice. He seemed rather invested, speaking his mind honestly, as he sat up so he could work more comfortably, first using waterbending to clean him, doing so carefully as he continued talking. " When you ask me how Sein Miru became a slave, do you ask me to guess what you already decided, or for us to figure it out together? In my opinion, I have to tie in my idea about Beast King. I always imagined that reason why he was so jaded and on the edge, most of the time must be because he is constantly struggling to protect his country safe from enemies on all sides. If it's the country of Beasts struggling against humanity, since Sein Miru is a human, it makes the most sense to me that Sein Miru was originally born somewhere else but later came to become a slave in Beast King's palace, and worked up the ranks to become his personal slave. We can have any reason, though, in my opinion, it would be dramatic if he were a crown prince of an enemy kingdom forced into slavery as a political prisoner, or a low ranked the seventh prince of fallen kingdom Beast King conquered, that was far enough from the inheritance that he slipped away from the conquered kingdom and is hiding his identity to protect himself, but is still educated enough due to his upbringing to be determined, brave and cool as he is. He needs to have some good upbringing justification for being so cool, " he shared his thought as he inquired curiously. " How close am I to your ideas? "

[Mirach]

"Quite close," Senecio smiled. "I also don't have a clear idea yet, but I think he must be from an enemy kingdom. That's why he struggles with the idea of considering the Beast King's kingdom as his, too. He seems to have some education indeed, but it doesn't have to be from being a noble. He could have some military background... At least he was captured and enslaved in some battle between the kingdoms."

[VisAnastasis]

" If the enemy kingdom is still standing firm, he would have to be captured in some king of the battle between kingdoms, indeed. It would be more dramatic if enemy kingdom is still standing so that we can give Sein Miru some more dramatic tension of will be or won't he betray Beast King if circumstances are dire for his birth land, " Tide suggested, thinking it through enthusiastically - indeed, it seemed he found a certain joy in building those characters. " If he still has some love for his country, though... where does his fondness for Beast King come to be so strong, though? It doesn't really feel like a pretence to me... Did his kingdom forsake him, and Beast King refused to kill him even though it would be wiser? I feel like, even if all Sein Miru's independence or ambition may have ended up in shambled after he was made a slave, there simply has to be some reason why he likes Beast King so much... " he glanced at actor curiously, with a thirst for knowledge in his gaze. " From the start, I could not help but wonder, what the source of such blind attraction could possibly be... "

[Mirach]

"Maybe he was spying on the king, trying to think of some plan for revenge, but as he was watching him, he couldn't help it but become more and more attracted..."

[VisAnastasis]

" It would make sense that it is an opinion that took a while to form before Sein Miru even approached him, " Tide agreed. As he was speaking, the talk was a rather good distraction from what he was doing. Since he finished cleaning Senecio's inner abrasions, he began applying a generous layer of balm to them, touching lightly to locate the scratches from how much he could reach with his fingers, and bending the liquidy balm with his waterbending to place it deeper where he could not reach. " To be honest... I am putting a lot more of myself than I expected into the character, " he admitted as he worked, offering a more private distraction. " It was hard to put a finger on what I wanted to build... I wanted a jaded character with enough injustice and hard life to justify him being full of pent up stress and distrust... but I also wanted a character who, as he gains trust in someone, will show a more emotionally intelligent, protective side... And then, today when he had to struggle to uncover the traitor I realized... The reason why I have a spot soft for Beast King... is because I could have been him, " he looked a little timid and thoughtful as he explained. " Beast King... is who I could have been if I never had Hans by my side. If instead of having the luxury to live in hiding, I was forced to fight a war against the world to protect my Beings, I'd always struggle. Hans... never made me feel like I had to come up with solutions on my own. He was always making up for what I lacked and coming up with the plans and solutions to our trials... Without Hans... what other solution could I possibly come up with to find the traitor, other than intimidate the suspects with my strength? " he shook his head. " I feel like me without Hans, protecting his small kingdom all on his own, would have remained me, but he would be rather lonely person, having to uphold the ideal image of his strength and fight all the time to reassure his people... "

[Mirach]

What Tide was doing clearly wasn't too pleasant to Senecio now that he was tired and not aroused anymore, but the talk kept him quite distracted. "If you identify that in the character, and then continue purposely playing him that way, then yes, it becomes truth for the character," he said. "It's also very easy to identify with Sein Miru because his main trait is being fascinated and attracted by you."

[VisAnastasis]

Tide couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Senecio's conclusion, warmth and thankfulness reflected in his feelings. He kept working diligently as he wanted to make sure Senecio doesn't end up with any discomfort the day after, as this much was nothing that fairy balm could not heal with its power - but while working, he provided the words from the heart as a distraction.
" It is not much different for Beast King, too, " he whispered with flushed cheeks, but unyielding sincerity, as he added. " Who would not be fascinated and have a soft spot... for a charismatic smart and cool man who, despite he could have anyone, yearns terribly to be with you? Suspicious as it might be to him to think anyone would be attracted to him to such an extent, it's a lovely emotion to indulge in. Against all suspicions and self-doubts, there is no way a Beast King would not find Sein Miru equally fascinating and magnetizing, if not more. I find that part of him very easy to draw from reality as well... In fact, I deem he was surely secretly glad he had gotten a chance to get Sein Miru to become his consort and was glad he could use breaking of a vase as an excuse for that... " he smiled softly, with a smile that sparkled with longing and dreams of his confession. " In fact, deep down, denying it even before himself, I am sure that just like how I daydream more and more each day about marrying you, he must be daydreaming about making Sein Miru his King Regent, and ruling equally side by side with him. Just like how we have ours, Sein Miru's human origin and slave status will certainly be big obstacles for his growingly greedy dreams, but like for us, their future feels rather hopeful to me... "

[Mirach]

"Does it?" Senecio asked. "Because we did leave them in a rather precarious situation. In front of the whole court, Sein Miru was seen covering a traitor and hoping for the King's downfall. They will have to figure out something..."

[VisAnastasis]

" Well, yes, I was wondering why you went with *covering for the traitor* route, instead of *traitor blackmailed me to hide his wrongdoing* route... I felt like it will be a misunderstanding from what King asked from him that creates problems for them later, but in the heat of a moment, as we were doing it, I was not exactly in a mindset where I wanted to stop the game just to discuss your choice,  " Tide agreed. " I do think they will definitely be happy together... eventually. But they are in trouble now. I don't think I am quite smart enough to solve their kingdom level predicament, and I suppose it would be cheating to ask Hans for advice? Hmm... We can always maybe go the route that the king claims he keeps him by his side despite Miru wishing for his downfall because he decided that Miru's punishment will be to stay with him until he breaks his will. He should be punished to remain tortured by Beast King and abused and violated by him every night, as an example to others who dare think of betraying him. I think that would be an effective terror tactic even to Beasts, " he offered curiously. " Wouldn't that make their situation properly dramatic? They would grow to have more gentler emotions for each other, but they would have to keep up the pretence of cruelty before other people, and from time to time, Beast King would have to act cruel or rough to Sein Miru before other people, so they think he has fate worse than death when he does not. That would give us a proper excuse as to why Beast King has to keep being more violent to Sein Miru even if he begins developing warmer feelings for him... so they can stay together... "

[Mirach]

"Exactly," Senecio smiled. "I went that way exactly for that potential. I really like the game of pretense, hurting in public and then making up for it in privacy..."

[VisAnastasis]

" Yes, indeed, " Tide agreed right away, with a brighter voice, as if happy he's been understood. " On my top five things tied to our lovemaking, our little plays are seriously competing for aftercare right now for the first spot. It's just so fun to come up with our own private little plays, with any cheesy plot point we feel like having, at our leisure. And taking scenario where Beast King, unused to handling love or sacrifices on his behalf, struggles to make things up to Sein Miru and combining it with taking care of you? It's just like a delicious candy. We can both do more dramatic things to each other we would never quite do as Tide and Senecio, and then give me chance to spoil you on top of it, " he smiled softly. " I did not imagine I'd like using roles as much as I do, and of course, since it's your job, you're much better at it, but still, it's really fun... it was rather hard to pretend to have advisors present when there's no one, but I'm sure I will get better pretending if we practice more. It's good that I have practice pretending to be someone else before I play Bull in Svarik's play, anyway, don't you think? " he asked earnestly. " I feel like I'm not doing that great yet, but if I suffer properly as Beast King worrying for Sein Miru, I feel like I can much better pull of suffering from anxiety over Svarik's life in the play. Humans are terrifyingly fragile, after all, and I'm sure Bull will be scared to death of losing frail meadow king, no differently than Beast King is terrified deep down that one wrong political move may end up in Sein Miru's death if he's not vigilant enough. It'll be easier to act when having other characters on stage respond to me instead of imagining there are invisible characters like today, though... I'll have to figure out how to do it convincingly, too... "

[Mirach]

"Yes, it’s a good practice, although not something I would mention when applying for a role," Senecio chuckled. "Don't worry about being convincing here. It’s just us. Those advisor were just like a prompt. I quite like to imagine being in public in this role, but only imagine. Real audience is the last thing I'd want."

[VisAnastasis]

" To be honest, it's the same with me... It's a game, but I wouldn't feel really good about just anyone seeing me act violently to you, even in pretence. If we didn't have pretence, I'd physically not be able to act violently at all. I can only do it because it's a game, but if we had an audience, it would feel more like... domestic violence? Though of me being the violent spouse that beats his partner is just infuriating... It's only alright because it's a game, " he said thoughtfully. He by then finished taking care of Senecio's injuries to the point he was content, and he cleaned the leftover balm from his hands, and covered Senecio with a bedsheet, for the moment being, to make him more comfortable, before landing back to his face and kissing his cheek again, warmly and tenderly, as if to not being able to help himself but before anything else reward him for letting him do as he pleased. Senecio finally felt clean and refreshed with the bath, and better with pains dulled with the balm, he was dry, warm and comfortable, and only his cheek was a little moist from Tide's eager smooch. " To be honest, the only barely possible audience for me right now could be Hans, but it was definitely a great choice not to have him help today, " he commented seriously, with a tinge of dread. " We definitely can not call Hans unless we have a reasonably good plot and lines thought through. He would do his best, but if we were too over the top, he's with no doubt burst out laughing and tease us. He wouldn't be able to help himself but to give us constructive criticism to our lines and discuss the plot, and we'd just spend the whole night rewriting script instead of making love... it would be dreadful. We definitely must be careful not to give Hans chance to tease us, or we'll never see the end of it... He turns into an unyielding teasing machine if he finds something adorable. "

[Mirach]

Senecio chuckled. "Right, this isn't supposed to be perfect. I'd say it’s not supposed to be watched from outside either. It's just fun to play such pretense. But still, I dare to say that if we wanted to make it into an actual play, it might be quite good. It has the right amount of drama and romance."

[VisAnastasis]

" Actually, that's true. It has an easy enough premise to follow even for people that don't know of Beings and is properly dramatic. Enemies to lovers is one of my favourite romance tropes, " Tide replied with a beaming smile, before, breathing in as if gathering courage, he suggested shyly. " You know... if with time and practice... and plays like one of Bull and Svarik I grow more confident being in the centre of attention... why don't we make it a play? " he asked. " By the time I'm hopefully confident enough to do such ambitious role before people... we will surely have a much better idea about characters and the world and will have already had as much fun as we wanted beforehand... And I think I'd like to leave a random little trace of us in the world, at this point in time when you were young, of something to remind us of the fun we had when we first met. Plus, " he smiled innocently to cover by the embarrassment of his sentiment. " I have... ahem... a strange feeling that Hans is totally unexpectedly bitter that I used the name Sein Miru before he could suggest it to you when adopting you. He's totally unreasonably glaring at me from time to time on that account, and he's surely plotting his revenge for ruining his momentum. We may appease his grumpiness a little by giving him more things he enjoys writing, and I think he's more enthusiastic these days, thinking up of things he could write for us... "

[Mirach]

Senecio closed his eyes contentedly, enjoying hiw comfortablehe felt now. "We can just have fun with it now and figure out where the story is going by playing it, and after it feels complete we can involve Hans and make it into a play," he said. "Oh, and before I forget, I need to tell you something about Sein Miru. He's weak for praise. Wouldn’t admit it, but when he's hurt and tired, all he wants to make him feel better is some praise from the Beast King. Later can be a better time for discussion, but right after, he just wants to hear that he's brave and did well."

[VisAnastasis]

"At that moment, it did not feel the right time for praise, because Beast King was sad he could not have ended the torture sooner, so I did not want to be out of character. And, besides, I feel like, while praising him a bit is one thing, Beast King will need to grow to trust in Miru's feelings a bit more before he can express himself through praise more freely. At this point, he would want to praise him, but there's still some reluctance because Sein Miru always speaks formally to him and calls him king and seems to admire him as such, so he'd still feel like he has to uphold his kingly image before him. We should come up with some plot points where they can slowly grow to speak more comfortably to each other, like us... " Demon teased softly while caressing Senecio's hair, and kissing his forehead, as he added sweetly as if he's just waited for a moment to say the words, brimming with gratification. " Like how comfortably, I, for example, can tell you that you looked really dashing and attractive when you pretended to be afraid and had your face twisted in the dramatic pretence of agony... but still had eyes that could not hide the real truth and were filled with greed for more. How comfortable you are to entrust yourself to me... it makes you feel so reliable and trustworthy. I can... not help but trust a little deeper each day, to someone that gives me such blind fate," he kissed him anew, with a bit flustered cheeks, before he added warmly. " And above all... I am so proud of how we are growing. You are still Senecio I fell for... But a more confident, reliable version of him. Our first time is special to me, yet, the contrast between it and tonight is stark. I felt really happy when I compared them. The first night, you acted as if it was so natural, that I do all I want to you, while you endure it and draw pleasure from enduring without asking for anything. Now, we make games around enduring things, but you are so much more communicative, asking for conditions, being eager to try different things, different plots, and discussing them more freely with me every day. As Sein Miru, you were not afraid to ask me for the reward you desired, and give me hints of feedback for what and how you liked it. I am so proud of you my heart is overflowing... This... Deep in my gut, I feel certain this is how the game should be played... "

[Mirach]

Senecio smiled brightly with the praise, making the fact that he can identify with the praise-loving side of Sein Miru quite easily. "Yes, it feels right. I thought I knew what I liked, but with you, I'm always learning more. But you're a bit unjust to Sein Miru about the formality. Whay options does he have? Either "Beast King" or "my King". Of course he'd go for the posessive formulation. If the king has another name, he doesn’t know it because in public, he only goes by "Beast King".

[VisAnastasis]

Tide enjoyed the bright smile on Senecio's face, snuggling at his side and caressing his hair contentedly, as if not able to help himself but put his endearment into acts, after what the actor said. Not even when he was being reprimanded, did the content smile leave his face, he only looked more thoughtful, but engaged, as if trying to find a solution.

" You are right... it is hard to breach formality. From the start, I somehow felt that Beast King grew up all on his own, and does not feel like someone that would have a name originally, or be given a name at the latter point, " he revealed timidly. " In Being culture, giving names or nicknames to others is a show of care, closeness and endearment... But if Beast King is not close to anyone, and all his subjects see him as someone they serve in exchange for his protection - would there be space for enough freedom for them to name him, even if they care for him? They would feel it is only proper to express their gratefulness by acknowledging their loyalty to him and calling him King. Few called Grendel Grendel in the old times, too, for this reason - among all, he was mostly addressed as Demon King. It is a sign of respect to superior, to address someone with an acknowledgement of subservience to then... But not a sign of closeness. I do not feel myself I am a Demon King that is on such an awe-inspiring level as Grendel was to be called by my title... I am mostly a glorified soul caretaker that checks on his people often and makes sure they are comfortable in hiding. So, it is no wonder my people felt close enough to me to name me freely. Without them, time would surely have given me another, but I would not be named Tide. But if Beast King had a turbulent life more similar to Grendel's, he would surely not have anyone close enough to name him... It does not feel proper, with such misfortunate life, for him to have a name... "

[Mirach]

"Like Sein Miru didn’t have a name," Senecio smiled. "That's a nice parallel. He could ask Sein Miru to name him, when he feel more comforyable with it."

[VisAnastasis]

" Now that we began speaking with more detail of their backstory, it feels like proper plot development. It feels right... that Beast King would look favourably upon a slave who claimed he does not have a name and demand one from him, when unknowingly, in his culture, names are only given as a sign of affection... He would be tempted by the chance to give someone that was brave enough to demand his closeness a name. It is almost like we totally planned it, instead of just going with whims of the moment, " Tide grinned a bit, purring at the twist. " It needs to be a properly dramatic moment when Beast King orders Sein Miru to come up with a name for him in turn. It should be a perfect moment when he feels like their bond is genuine enough to warrant Sein Miru naming him. It required a lot of courage, for someone that was never named, to ask for a name... I can not wait to see it... It's going to be so wholesome... "

[Mirach]

Senecio nodded. "It's really a nice story. Good that I have enough time to come up with a proper name."

[VisAnastasis]

Tide was purring loudly with a conclusion.
" I look forward to the name you're going to come up with... I'm sure it will be a lovely name to carry, " he declared, pleased with what they came up with. He placed his hand on the actor's shoulder then, though, his voice hoarse and full of warmth. " It's... pretty exciting to look forward to a name given by you, even if it's for a game. How about I give you a tip about Being culture in exchange? When Beings feel close, appreciative or thankful to someone, it is usually the norm to express it through gifts and favours. I'd really like to gift you something right now... If I do not come up with something, I feel like I could die, " he said suddenly, with a sparkingly hopeful voice. " Are you free enough with me yet to demand something you desire with shameless conviction? I am afraid I'm not too smart to come up with something huge on my own... I was thinking, I will have this night free, and I feel like sewing tonight, so I wanted to sew some nice clothes for you and Hans... but I am not sure if I am thinking too small. It's mostly an impulsive thought, " he admitted. " I've seen you have some nightgowns, but none seem tailored to be comfortable, and perfectly fit for cuddling. And I just ruined pair of your clothes, anyway, so my first thought was that it would be nice to make you some comfortable lovely clothes. You have a lot, but it's not nearly enough, " he shook his head firmly. " It is a standard romance trope, for a fairy tale prince to bestow an endless amount of clothes for his beloved. I should get to work diligently if my dream to make you that many clothes that you can wear a different outfit every day are to come true at one point... "

[Mirach]

"Well, a comfortable nightgown fit for cuddling sounds good," Senecio admited. "Something soft and light, maybe in dark violet."